BBC Look North interviewed pig producers and others connected to the sector at this week’s Driffield Show to highlight how the ongoing crisis threatens to change the shape of farming in the area.
Producers are still losing, on average £30/pig, on the back of more than a year of heavy losses, resulting in an estimated 20% drop in national pig production.
Around a third of UK pig production is based in East Yorkshire. Local producer Kate Morgan explained how the Ukraine war had pushed wheat prices up since late-February, alongside higher energy and fuel prices. “It is really hitting us now,” she said.
NPA senior policy adviser Charlie Dewhirst said: “80% of our members have said they won’t survive another 12 months if the financial situation doesn’t improve. The situation is extremely dire and if we don’t see a change in the financial circumstances, there won’t be a British pig industry and there won’t be any British pork on the shelves.”
With data showing cheaper pork imports are on the rise, Vet Duncan Berkshire explained how imported meat can be produced to different standards permitted here in the UK.
The feature also interviewed members of the public about their attitudes towards buying British versus cheaper imports.
“Pig farming is part of the fabric of East Yorkshire, part of the history of so many families. But the next 12 months could change all that and this whole area with it,” the presenter concluded.
You can view the feature HERE (18 mins)